Senate confirms Clinton

Vote on Holder to head Justice on hold for a week.

Vote on Holder to head Justice on hold for a week.

January 22, 2009|JOSH MEYER and PAUL RICHTER Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- The Senate approved the nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state on Wednesday but postponed taking action on President Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr. Clinton's confirmation was approved on a 94-2 vote. Two Republicans, David Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, voted against Clinton. Her confirmation was held up for a day by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who wanted to air the issue of the charitable activities of Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton. Cornyn voted to confirm Clinton. The Clintons had reached a detailed agreement with Obama's staff that provided for disclosure of contributions to Bill Clinton's foundation. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying they want to question Holder about his role in some Clinton-era clemency cases and other matters, delayed his confirmation vote for a week. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., grudgingly agreed to the delay. Republicans who initiated the move included Charles Grassley of Iowa, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Georgia and Cornyn. The request was made by the ranking minority member on the committee, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, after a morning meeting of the GOP senators on the panel, which oversees the Justice Department and is charged with investigating attorney general nominees for their readiness and ability to serve. Specter said he was acting at the request of his fellow Republicans and that he personally was reluctant to hold up the confirmation process, but he and other GOP senators said Holder has not fully answered their questions about his role in several clemency cases, in part because Holder's questioning had been rushed by the Democrat-controlled committee. "The proceedings did not lend themselves to the kind of questioning I thought was necessary," Specter said. Senate confirmation of Holder, a former judge and prosecutor, is not considered to be in jeopardy, according to several sources on the committee and some Republican senators, such as Orrin Hatch of Utah. But the Republicans have accused Leahy and other Democrats of trying to ram through Holder's confirmation, in part by cutting off questioning about his role in Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich.